Room With A View: Miami Beach’s Best Oceanfront Hotels

With miles of sublime shoreline and palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze, Miami Beach is a world-class destination for soaking up the sun. There’s certainly no shortage of gorgeous oceanfront resorts to choose from for your dream vacation, but a few stand out as particularly idyllic. Read on for our guide to Miami Beach’s best oceanfront resorts.

An eco-chic luxury resort spanning an entire city block, 1 Hotel South Beach is a stylish oasis of tranquility boasting 600 linear feet of oceanfront real estate. The elevated pool deck offers sublime ocean views and three different pools for lounging, swimming and sunning where you can enjoy fresh fish tacos from Sandbox or vegan fare from Plnthouse. There’s also a rooftop swimming pool on the 17th floor anchored by Watr rooftop bar for cocktails and inventive sushi. Of course, you can’t go wrong on a cushy lounge chair in the sand with the Atlantic Ocean lapping against the shore.

The brainchild of visionary hotelier Alan Faena, his eponymous hotel is an exquisite escape on Miami Beach in a luxuriant color palette of red, gold and animal print. Faena’s beach scene is as lavish as the hotel’s interiors with red umbrellas and lounge chair cushions creating a striking contrast against the aquamarine ocean. Here, beach attendants will clean your sunglasses, provide sunscreen and even wash the sand off your feet. If you choose to lounge by the beautifully landscaped pool, you’ll be in good company with a work of art by contemporary master Damien Hirst. His sculpture “Gone But Not Forgotten” is a gold-dipped woolly mammoth skeleton resting inside a glass case on the pool deck.

Situated inside a historic mid-century modern building on a double lot overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, The Miami Beach EDITION has retained the property’s throwback charm and blended it with modern luxury. The poolscape features a grassy lawn with two swimming pools, one featuring a restoration of the original diving platform. The lawn is anchored by the Tropicale bar, which resides inside a cabana with a rooftop spire surrounded by cushions for lounging. Out on the beach, stylish black and white striped lounge chair cushions and umbrellas greet you for an afternoon alternating between toes in the sand and dips in the ocean.

For a storied oceanfront resort where Frank Sinatra once held court and James Bond’s Golden Eye was filmed, there’s nothing like the fabulous Fontainebleau. Designed by architect Morris Lapidus in 1954, it oozes Miami Modern style with curvilinear lines, original bowtie tile floors in the lobby and one of the most lavish oceanfront poolscapes in Miami Beach. Whether you spend the day sunning at the beach, lounging by the pool or unwinding at Lapis Spa, the Fontainebleau offers a stylish, all-encompassing oceanfront resort experience.

Boasting an oversized oceanfront swimming pool tucked away behind neatly manicured seagrape hedges, W South Beach is a favorite hideaway for the celebrity set, from Derek Jeter to Ice Cube. The oceanfront resort boasts a beautiful stretch of sand in South Beach beneath bright pink umbrellas where beach attendants know how to provide the VIP treatment to all guests. Delight in a gourmet menu, cocktails and fine wine delivered from the hotel’s onsite restaurant and bar straight to your beach chair.

One of the most family-friendly oceanfront resorts in Miami Beach, the Loews Miami Beach recently underwent a $50 million renovation, which includes its lavish lagoon-style oceanfront swimming pool, VIP Soak cabanas and the facilities for their Sobe Kids Club. Drop off the little ones for full- or half-day programming at their interactive clubhouse featuring a larger-than-life lifeguard stand, craft area, TVs, video games and a Rec Room space for teens and tweens. The resort is also home to a collection of dining experiences featuring local Miami purveyors, including Azucar Ice Cream Company.

At 40 stories high, The Setai is the tallest building in Miami Beach, looming large over the Atlantic Ocean. This luxurious zen-chic retreat draws inspiration from Asian cultures for a minimalist approach to design in a palette of subdued black, hardwood and gold tones throughout the hotel. The poolscape features three parallel swimming pools that lead to The Ocean Grill beneath a pagoda-like structure overlooking the famed Beach Walk and ocean. At the beach, sink into a lux lounge chair in the sand and enjoy the utter peacefulness of this oceanfront resort.

A rare example of colonial-style architecture on Art Deco-laden Ocean Drive, The Betsy Hotel is a chic oceanfront retreat in the heart of South Beach. While you’ll have to cross the street and traverse Lummus Park to access the beach, you’ll enjoy the most classic of South Beach scenes along the way. The hotel is home to one of the best pizzerias in Miami, The Alley, which is situated on the corner of the property on a narrow alleyway leading to the beach. Enjoy their Neapolitan-style pizza in the casual, yet stylish dining room or order from the window where gelato is also available. Look up and you’ll spy The Betsy Orb, a public art installation wedged between two buildings that seemingly defies gravity.